664 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BEES HELP SALESMEN 



13 Y J. FRANK FOOSHE, 

 Market Agent, Roanoke Chamber of Commerce. 



[Mr. Fooshe is a son of the well-known queen-breeder, J. D. Pooshe. Because of his former experience 

 with bees he is eminently well prepared to use bees in his demonstration work. — Ed. J 



111 my work here as market agent of 

 the Koa'noke Chamber of Commerce I am 

 using bees for a practical demonstration of 

 the principles of marketing. For this pur- 

 pose I have screened in a large transfer 

 wagon so that no bees can get out. In this 

 wagon I have a hive of typical three-band- 

 ed Italian bees. When I get in the wagon 

 on the crowded market square the people 

 swarm around. I handle the bees without 

 gloves, veil, or hat. I make it a point to 

 explain to the on-lookers that there is no 

 magic in my being able to handle the bees 

 in this way, as I go in to do nothing that 

 will disturb them, and to let nothing they 

 do to me rattle me. 



I have a twofold object in giving this 

 demonstration in the handling of bees. 

 First, I want .to impress upon the large 

 number of fruit-growers and truckers who 

 come to this market each week the impor- 

 tance of handling their fruits and vegetables 

 with the same care that is necessary in the 

 handling of bees. Second, I try to empha- 

 size the great possibilities of this mountain 

 section for producing honey of the very best 

 grade. 



The slogan in my work is, " Reducing 

 waste thru better grading, packing, and 

 handling, the only way to bridge the chasm 

 between more to the producer at less to the 

 consumer." I am using every effort to 

 impress this one truth of cutting out waste, 

 however it may occur. I go right to the 

 farmer's Avagon and help him grade, pack, 

 and sell the load he has brought in today, 

 in the hope that he will bring his load to- 

 morrow in better shape. As to whether he 

 will or not, the large number of growers 

 who were using the standard i^ackages for 

 tomatoes and peaches at the close of a 

 month's work here last summer as compared 

 with at the beginning is the best evidence. 

 The principles of farm demonstration are 

 just as applicable to selling as to producing. 

 If the farm is a good place to help the 

 farmer with his growing problems, certainly 

 the market square offers a fine opportunity 

 for helping his with his selling. 



As to why T should select a colony of bees 

 for trying to impress better grading and 

 handlin.g, it is easy to answer. The bee and 

 its products represent the highest degree of 

 perfection in marketing anything from the 

 farm that I know of. If bees and queens 



are to be put in the cage, each one must be 

 handled with care. If honey is to be car- 

 ried to the local market, or shipped to some 

 distant point, a very high degree of care is 

 necessary. The perfection with which bees 

 do their part calls for the best methods in 

 handling them at every move. 



It is a matter of peculiar gratification to 

 me to be able to use these bees for this 

 marketing demonstration for the purpose 

 of causing the people to think of and to put 

 into practice better methods in the handling 

 of their produce. It is to the bee that I 

 owe my college education, for the bee money 

 at our home in South Carolina was the edu- 

 cational fund, set aside for this specific 

 13urpose. While I had not been in a hive 

 of bees for several years till last week, I 

 was delighted to have this experience again. 

 It added greatly to my jDleasure to have Mr. 

 C. E. Layman, of Troutville, who furnished 

 me with the bees and all supplies for this 

 demonstration, tell me that several years 

 ago he had secured from my father the 

 foundation of his present breeding stock. I 

 have never taken much stock in bees having 

 knowledge of people; but if there is such 

 a thing, these bees seem to have met an old 

 friend of their parents, for I never worked 

 with any more kindly disposed bees at any 

 time. 



Another most gratifying matter to me is 

 the number of people who are wanting in- 

 formation about bees. Some want to trans- 

 fer from the old-fashioned box hives to 

 those with movable frames ; others want to 

 Italianize their bees, and still many others 

 want to get started in keeping bees. The 

 num.ber of business inquiries from the first 

 day's demonstration is a striking instance 

 of the principle for which I stand in my 

 marketing demonstrations. Instead of gov- 

 ernment experts and college professors run- 

 ning all over the country to speak to a 

 handful of men here today and several 

 hundred miles away tomorrow, some advan- 

 tage should be taken of the large number of 

 farmers gathered about the market square 

 to preach tlie gospel of better farming, in- 

 cluding both producing and selling. I am 

 an ardent believer in the church as the 

 staying factor in our social and business 

 life; but I am just as enthusiastic over the 

 work of the Salvation Army as a powerful 

 agency in the advancement of his kingdom. 



